Archive for the 'Rise of the Machines' Category
Amazon to Begin Testing Same-Day Delivery Drones in Cambridge
November 13th, 2014Via: Guardian: Amazon is planning to test drones in Cambridge, England, as the battle to offer consumers same-day deliveries heats up. The US company announced with considerable fanfare late last year that it was considering using drones as a way of dramatically reducing the time it takes to deliver orders to customers. At the time […]
“An Autonomous Weapons Arms Race” Is Underway
November 11th, 2014Via: New York Times: On a bright fall day last year off the coast of Southern California, an Air Force B-1 bomber launched an experimental missile that may herald the future of warfare. Initially, pilots aboard the plane directed the missile, but halfway to its destination it severed communication with its operators. Alone, without human […]
Malls Fill Vacant Stores With Server Rooms
November 3rd, 2014Via: Wall Street Journal: The Internet is moving to a shopping center near you. In Fort Wayne, Ind., a vacated Target store is about to be home to rows of computer servers, network routers and Ethernet cables courtesy of a local data-center operator. In Jackson, Miss., a former McRae’s department store will get the same […]
Flesh-and-Blood Advisers Face Threats from Robots
November 3rd, 2014Via: Reuters: Fidelity and Charles Schwab will be offering automated financial advice that’s low-cost or even free, pushing other advisers to be tech-savvy to compete. Last month, both Charles Schwab Corp and Fidelity Investments unveiled so-called “robo” advice programs that offer free or very cheap algorithm-driven portfolio management to investors. More Teen With Terminal Cancer […]
Google’s Secretive DeepMind Start-Up Unveils A “Neural Turing Machine”
October 30th, 2014Via: MIT Technology Review: DeepMind has built a neural network that can access an external memory like a conventional Turing machine. The result is a computer that mimics the short-term memory of the human brain. Related: “With Artificial Intelligence, We Are Summoning the Demon”
Lowe’s Hires Robots for the Holidays
October 28th, 2014If you think it’s just for the “Holidays”, I got a bridge to sell ya. Via: PCMagazine: Lowe’s is hiring some new workers for the holiday season, but they’re not human. The hardware store just announced plans to test customer service robots, which will be able to help you locate items in the store, and […]
Taco Bell Unveils Mobile Ordering
October 28th, 2014“Cashiers and food service workers: You’re pretty much screwed.” —Seattle Hikes Minimum Wage to $15 Per Hour Via: USA Today: Food used to be what drove folks into restaurants. But these days, it’s also increasingly the technology behind it. That’s why two major restaurant chains, Taco Bell and Outback Steakhouse, made marketing waves on Tuesday, […]
‘Ambulance Drone’ Prototype Unveiled in Holland
October 28th, 2014Via: AFP: A Dutch-based student on Tuesday unveiled a prototype of an “ambulance drone”, a flying defibrillator able to reach heart attack victims within precious life-saving minutes. Developed by Belgian engineering graduate Alec Momont, it can fly at speeds of up to 100 kilometres per hour (60 miles per hour). “Around 800,000 people suffer a […]
Assange: Google Is Not What It Seems
October 28th, 2014Via: Newsweek: It was also in 1999 that Schmidt joined the board of a Washington, D.C.–based group: the New America Foundation, a merger of well-connected centrist forces (in D.C. terms). The foundation and its 100 staff serve as an influence mill, using its network of approved national security, foreign policy and technology pundits to place […]
Pibot – The World’s First Humanoid Robot Pilot
October 26th, 2014Via: Reuters: Researchers in South Korea are developing a robotic pilot that could potentially replace humans in the cockpit. Unlike drones and autopilot programs which are configured for specific aircraft, the robots’ humanoid design will allow it to fly any type of plane with no additional sensors.
